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Two giant credit card companies helped lift the Dow Friday. American Express (AXP) gained 3.5 percent as fourth-quarter earnings doubled. The company cited strong consumer spending during the holidays. That in turn lifted Visa (V) by 4.5 percent. Both are among the 30 stocks in the Dow Industrials.
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As a result, the Dow Jones industrial average (^DJI) gained 41 points, but the Standard & Poor's 500 index (^GPSC) lost 7 points, and the Nasdaq composite (^IXIC) fell 21 points.

Not all of the earnings news from blue chip companies was as well-received.

Intel (INTC) fell 2.5 percent. Its results were pretty much in line with expectations, but its forecast was a bit weak. A lot of market pros watch Intel and other semiconductor makers as leading indicators of where the market is headed. General Electric (GE), another bellwether, fell more than 2 percent. Its net was in line, but analysts say the company's profit margin was disappointing.

And one more company we frequently cite as a key indicator of the broader economy: UPS (UPS) fell nearly 1 percent. The delivery company warned about its fourth-quarter results. It was caught flat-footed by the last minute surge in online shopping and had to hire 30,000 more seasonal workers than planned.

In the financial sector, Morgan Stanley (MS) gained more than 4 percent as it beat the Street. Among regional banks, SunTrust (STI) rose 3.5 percent on a big increase in its net, but Capital One (COF) fell 5 percent and M&T Bank (MTB) lost 2.5 percent.

Thursday's two biggest losers continued to slide. Best Buy (BBY) fell another 8.5 percent, based on its reports of a sales decline for the holidays. And NuSkin (NUS) lost another 6 percent. The personal care company's business practices are under investigation by officials in China, one of its biggest markets.

Payment services business Qiwi (QIWI) slid 13 percent. The company's major market is in Russia, and that nation his indicated it may limit Qiwi's cross-border electronic transfers due to concerns about terrorism and money laundering.

Interest rates are low, but that's no excuse to accept 0.01 percent interest rates on your savings. Just a little shopping can find you many FDIC-insured savings accounts paying as much as 1 percent in interest, usually with no fees and easy availability to your money through electronic funds transfers. Compared to the near-zero rates that uninsured money-market mutual funds and other alternatives pay, high-interest savings accounts are a much safer way to save.

Banks still try to get customers to pay more for less, with one recent threat to charge fees for basic deposit accounts if the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates further. But many online banks not only offer fee-free options on their checking and savings accounts but also pay interest, and many have extensive fee-free ATM networks or reimbursement arrangements. If your bank follows through on threats to raise fees, taking your business elsewhere is your best move.

Bankrate reports that the average credit card charges around 16 percent in interest. That's a guaranteed money-maker for the banks that issue cards, but a big loser for those who carry balances on their cards. With many cards offering promotional interest rates as low as 0 percent, using them to get rid of high-interest cards is a no-brainer move and can help you pay your debt down faster.

Mistakes on your credit history can keep you from getting a loan that you want to buy your next home or car, but they can also have consequences you'd never imagine. Increasingly, insurance companies, apartment rental agents, and even prospective employers order copies of your credit report to see if you're financially responsible. Be sure to take advantage of your free credit check at the government's annualcreditreport.com website to make sure the three big credit-rating agencies have everything right before mistakes come back to bite you.

Payday loans have gotten more tightly regulated recently, but banks and other financial institutions still offer ways to let you get quicker access at your cash -- for a hefty fee. Resorting to short-term money fixes can land you in even more problematic situations down the road, because those solutions often create debt spirals from which it's hard to emerge unscathed. Set up an emergency fund instead and be prepared in advance for the money woes that life throws your way.

Interest rates have risen during the last half of 2013, with a typical 30-year mortgage carrying a 4.5 percent interest rate. But many homeowners still carry higher-interest mortgages from before the financial crisis. Now that home prices have risen, you might be able to refinance for the first time, and many homeowners have used lower rates to cut hundreds from their mortgage payment or shift to a shorter-term 15-year mortgage to pay off their debt faster.

Too many people never update their insurance coverage to deal with changes in their coverage needs, whether it comes from changes in family status for life insurance, health conditions for health-care or long-term care insurance, or even what types of property you own for homeowners' insurance. Don't wait for disaster to strike; check with your insurer or agent to see if your current coverage meets your needs.

In the past, investors had to pay hundreds or even thousands of dollars just to make a simple stock purchase. Now, though, the rise of discount brokers, low-fee index funds and exchange-traded funds, and freely available investment news and advice have made it silly to spend large amounts to get access to the financial markets. If you're still paying your broker too much to invest, look into alternatives that can help you avoid cutting serious money out of your retirement nest egg.

Everyone likes a tax break, and one of the best ones for you to use involves making contributions to a tax-favored retirement account. By putting money in an IRA or 401(k), you can reduce your current taxable income and save on your taxes while also preparing for the future. With 401(k)s, your employer might even chip in a bit on your behalf. Even when times are tough, finding even small amounts to save can put time on your side and make a big difference down the road.

Many investors found out the hard way this year that bonds aren't as safe as they thought, with some major bond funds posting double-digit percentage losses in 2013. Despite those losses, bonds still carry substantial risk in 2014, with many calling for imminent interest-rate hikes that would erode their value further. Even now, bond rates are so low that they don't compensate you much for their risk.

In contrast to bonds, stocks have soared in 2013. That has some investors finally piling into the market for the first time since 2008 and 2009, while others remain shell-shocked from the massive losses they incurred back then during the financial crisis. Even with the Dow Jones Industrials (^DJI) and other major market benchmarks near all-time record highs, it makes sense to have some stock exposure in your portfolio. Just don't go overboard in the false belief that gains of 20 percent and 30 percent will happen every year.

If you pay full price for just about anything these days, you're paying too much. The rise of deep-discount stores has led to falling prices at stores and shopping malls. Moreover, online tools like coupon sites, daily-deal offers, discounted gift cards, and cash-back credit-card deals can cut your costs as well. With all these tools, you won't find many situations in which you have no chance of getting a bargain on the items you want.

In the past, many young adults focused on getting into as strong a college as they could, figuring that their degree would pay them enough to make up for the costs they incurred. With college graduates facing a more challenging job environment than ever, smart students are thinking about college costs before they make a decision on a school. By maximizing financial aid and looking at lower-tuition schools with nearly as strong educational quality, you can avoid creating a big debt hole that you'll struggle with for years into the future.

If you don't have a will, a power of attorney for financial and health-care matters, and an advance directive to tell medical professionals whether you want certain life-preserving measures taken if something happens to you, then you're putting your family at risk. Many people don't have even these basic estate-planning documents, but getting them in place is easier and less expensive than most believe. Get your affairs taken care of in 2014 and save your loved ones some big future hassles.

Resolving to be more financially astute and to avoid common mistakes will help you get your finances in order more quickly. These tips should give you more money to help you meet all your financial goals.

Also among the 1638 emigrants were two brothers, Richard and Thomas Wickham.[4]:2 Samuel, a son of Thomas, settled in Rhode Island and became a Freeman of the Colony and a Deputy.[4]:3 Another descendant, Captain John Clements Wickham R.N. served on the Beagle on its voyage with Charles Darwin and was later the first Magistrate and administrator of Queensland.[4]

Thomas is my great ancestor or my first great .....Grandfather to come to the colonies.

Thomas did have a some assets when he came here. He was born after his own father passed by a few months so he had to sue for his inheritance from his mother\'s second marriage ect.

Neither Thomas nor Richard has a tombstone or one that has survived however Thomas has one of his first son\'s tombstone still in existance among other children.

Richard\'s has many of his children\'s tombstones and grandchildren\'s markers still in existance only the name is misspelled. I have the photos of the tombstones of many of the families that I could find for proof.

Many of us who came here had surnames that had gone though several changes after the invasion of England by William the conqueror when surnames were not consistant. Even when the settlements started here many could not write or read in their native language so the same families might have different spellings on the tombstones especially if they had split up and died in a different colony miles from the orignal settlement.

Get with the program people. There are some of us whose families came here long before this was the USA. The original immigrants came to a land under siege by warring tribes.There were settlements of mostly English and other Europeans before even the colonies were formed. My ancestor who I am descendant from supposedly came here in 1638.People had to barter or trade goods because there was no common currency except for trading goods or services. The only credit was working for somone until you were considered a Freeman! Unless you already came here with some assets from the mother country you had to make your way from the bottom.

The government ought to pay our credit debts off before before paying China. If they hadn\'t ruined the economy with their trade deals and other big mistakes few of us would even need to charge anything but our cell phones!

Any and all spending in this nation in the last six months was put on credit cards...and now reality is about to set in for millions of people...but hey do not take my word for this fact just set back and watch this nighmare unfold in the next few months...